This
latest retrospective from the WWE pays tribute to Mark Calaway aka the
Undertaker who gained popularity during the WWF's transitional period between
the Hulk
Hogan/Cyndi Lauper era and the
"Attitude" era. After the WCW decided not to renew his contract, he
signed with the WWF and made his debut during 1990's "Survivor Series"
as a teammate of Ted DiBiase's "Million Dollar Team" (a match that
isn't on this set). From there, he got himself a new "manager"
(Paul Bearer) and made an impression at WrestleMania VII where he defeated Jimmy
Snuka (another match not included). These days, it seems as if championship belts change
hands faster than Paris Hilton's home movie costars, yet it took Undertaker one
whole year to become
Heavyweight Champ by defeating Hulk Hogan (this match IS included!).

From there, "the Phenom" took the WWF by storm and
racked up a number of achievements. During a feud with "the Heartbreak
Kid" Shawn Michaels, he took part in the company's first-ever "Hell In
A Cell" match and the following year, he wrestled Mankind in another
"Hell In A Cell" match, clips of which are still shown to this day. In
addition, he has an impressive record-setting 13-0 streak at WrestleMania.

Since I had stopped watching wrestling in the late 80's,
all of the content on discs one and two were new to me. Disc one features seven
matches against people like Hulk Hogan, Bret Hart and Yokozuna. It was great
seeing these early matches for the first time and I was quite surprised that the
old "WWF" logo was on display in the majority of the matches. However,
there's no rhyme or reason to when the "WWF" logo is blurred or not.
For example; during his "Hell In A Cell" match against Michaels, the
"WWF" logo is all over the place - even in the corner of the screen!
Yet, during his "Cell" match with Mankind, the WWE logo is in the
corner and the "WWF" logos on the ring posts are blurred. Weird, I
know.

Disc
two features the previously mentioned classic "Hell In A Cell" matches, one against
Mankind and the other against Shawn Michaels which also introduced his
"brother" Kane.Unfortunately, I thought
disc three was the least interesting. I'm not
sure if it was due to the Undertaker's reemergence as the "American Bad
Ass" (in essence, a biker complete with leather, tatts and headband) or the quality of matches against such "wrestlers" as Brock
Lesnar and John Cena. However, I did enjoy his match against Stone Cold (one of
his last before adopting the "Bad Ass" persona) and his Undisputed
Championship match against Kurt Angle.

Undertaker In the Graveyard Promo On Mr. McMahon [SmackDown!
11/13/03]

WWE Undisputed Championship Match vs. Kurt Angle [SmackDown!
9/3/03]

Video:
As usual, this one is presented in the full frame 1.33:1 ratio and, while there
is some slight differences in the textures of the video (depending on its age),
it was a pretty attractive transfer considering the amount of content on each
disc.

Audio: The Dolby Digital 5.1 sound was crystal clear and enveloped my
living room while I was watching it. There's also an option of watching
the disc in Spanish.

Packaging: I feel it's my duty to comment on the packaging for this set. While I
do appreciate the WWE taking my shelf space into account and using a standard
size DVD case, they've chosen to use one that has one hub and you place the
three discs one on top of the other. Frankly, this is a pretty boneheaded move
since it would've been just as easy to use which has a flap in the middle to
hold two disc securely, while the third attaches to the standard hub. I've read
stories about fans opening theirs to find one disc scratched thanks to the hub
not being strong enough to hold all three discs. In fact, the review copy I
received was the same way.

Conclusion: Since I had stopped watching wrestling in the late 80's
and resumed late in 2002, I was only familiar with the Undertaker as a bandana
and sunglass wearing "American Bad Ass" covered in tatts and sporting a
buzz cut. And let me tell you, he was far from impressive. However, after
watching the matches and skits on the first two discs, I gained a new appreciation for the
Undertaker as a character and Mark as a wrestler. Though, in doing research into
the Undertaker's history, I see that there's a lot the WWE has left out. I
realize it might be hard to condense close to fifteen years of history on three discs, but
judging by the pop he gets, i'm sure there are plenty 'Taker fans that wouldn't be that upset if this
was the first volume dedicated to the Undertaker. Perhaps if sales of this set
are strong enough, it just might be. Recommended.